Qatar’s QAPCO on track in building new petrochemical complex

02 May 2013 08:54[Source: ICIS news]

DUBAI (ICIS)--Qatar Petrochemical Co’s (QAPCO) plan to expand its facilities and increase its production capacity to around 5m tonnes/year by 2019 is on track or even ahead of schedule, the leading petrochemical powerhouse in the Middle East said.

“We are now in the second phase of the project, which will produce some additional petrochemical materials, never produced by Qatar in the past,” said QAPCO’s CEO Mohamed Yousef Al-Mulla in a statement late on 1 May.

Last year, the company announced to invest $5bn (€3.8bn) in setting up of a new petrochemical complex, which would double the company’s production capacity.

The complex, to be located at Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial city, will produce compound materials, which include polypropylene (PP) and at least four other new polymer materials, not produced by Qatar, Al-Mullah said.

The petrochemical products would mainly be sold to high-growth markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

“The project is progressing according to the plan…and is expected to begin actual production at the beginning of 2019,” he added.

QAPCO is jointly owned by Industries Qatar with an 80% stake and France's Total with a 20% stake.

Over the next decade, Qatar plans to spend $25bn on expanding its domestic petrochemical industry. It also intends to more than double its annual petrochemical production capacity from 9.2m tonnes to 23m tonnes by 2020, its minister was quoted as saying last year.